To celebrate the RSPCA cupcake day and help raise funds for a cause close to my heart, I made some gluten free puppy dog cupcakes. It was baking for an ‘amazing paws’!
It was so much fun decorating these, I sometimes wonder if I should have chosen a career as a cake decorator.
I’ve outlined below how I decorated mine, but you could do anything you like. I was thinking freckles would also be amazing for ears or gluten free oreos.
Scroll down for decorations and the vanilla cupcake recipe. If you don’t have much time, a gluten free cupcake mix would also do the trick.
I hope you enjoy!
Kath xx
The Decorations
All the cupcakes are frosted with peanut butter buttercream, recipe is below.
I’ve put photos of all the decorations and their ingredients before the recipe.
In all of the cupcakes the decorations are:
Eyes: Dollar Sweets Candy Eyeballs (Woolworths).
Nose: Jelly Belly’s (Big W), cut in half or whole depending on the shape you’d like.
Mouth: Wilton Shimmering Heart sprinkles (Big W).
Ears: Each decoration was different, see below each photo for what I used.
1. Caramel Puppy Dog – my personal favourite!
Ears: Werther’s Original Chewy Toffees (Woolworths). Unwrap and heat one in the microwave for 10 seconds. Cut in half and shape into two ears.
2. Peanut Butter Attack!
Ears: Reeces Peanut Butter cups (from Woolworths). Cut in half.
3. The crazy marshmallow!
Ears: Darrell Lea Rocklea Road Mini Marshmallows (from Woolworths) .
Photos of Decorations
Scroll through the photos below to see the packets of decorations I used and their ingredients lists. As always check them when you buy to make sure they haven’t changed.
Ingredients
- CUPCAKE
- Muffin cases
- 135g butter, room temperature
- 240g caster sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g gluten free plain flour*
- 20g cornflour
- 1 & 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 190ml full cream milk
- BUTTERCREAM:
- 1 cup (250g) butter, room temperature
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 1/3 cup cream or full cream milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup peanut butter, smooth
- DECORATIONS
- Listed above
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Line a muffin pan with cases.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the gluten free plain flour, cornflour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the salt.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mix, alternating with the milk. For example 1/3 flour then 1/3 milk, beating lightly between additions. Be careful not to overmix.
- Fill prepared muffin pan wells, until 2/3 full. Smooth tops of batter with a spoon.
- Place into the oven for 18-20 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow cup cakes to stand in tins for 5 minutes, before removing to a wire rack to cool.
BUTTERCREAM:
- In a large bowl, use handheld beaters to beat the butter until smooth and softened.
- Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Then gradually add in two batches to the butter, beating well. This may take 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the cream (or milk) and vanilla extract. Beat on high for 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
- Add the peanut butter and beat until smooth. If the icing is too stiff add a teaspoon of milk at a time. If the icing is too soft, at 1/4 of a cup of icing sugar at a time.
DECORATING:
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag, fitted with a nozzle of your choice. I changed mind throughout to get different textures.
- When the cupcakes are cool, pipe with peanut buttercream and decorate (see descriptions above).
- Enjoy!
Notes
* I used Ardor gluten free, Bobs Red Mill or Orgran.
